Reef-Breaker BasicsNone can stand against the fury of the storm for long!Prerequisites: Personal Lieutenant (Orochi)Benefits: You gain a +4 bonus to Swim checks and add the Path of the Orochi to the Paths associated with your alignment (if any). Your Orochi’s natural attacks inflict double damage on all scenery and objects.

Reef-Breaker MasteryHere's the secret: grab on tight and don’t let go!Prerequisites: Reef-breaker BasicsBenefits: You may hold your breath for a number of minutes equal to your Constitution score and are immune to turning by Orochi. Your Orochi’s Threat Level increases by 1 (maximum 20).

Reef-Breaker SupremacyNo matter how this ends, it will be glorious!Prerequisites: Reef-Breaker MasteryBenefits: You may replace your Orochi lieutenant without paying the reputation cost if your Orochi dies during a dramatic scene. Your Orochi may pay 1 action die to turn Medium-sized or smaller folk, and may do so any number of times per scene.

I'm planning to create a hybrid utilizing some of the tricks and ideas showcased in the two suggested here (yes, lifeline is fiendish). Hopefully my try will be posted along with the path tomorrow to wrap up Orochi week . Mechanically either of the ones offered earlier should be sound with this feat chain.

Quote

Also, Captains with Orochi are going to be sick -- and if I read this correctly a straight Captain will effectively have have a TL 15 sidekick at level 14

I had the captain gamebreaker carefuly in mind - "Number One" sets the Lt's threat level to to CL -1, so the Orochi with this feat chain would be equal to you CL. The max 20 verbage is just future proofing against something unforseen comming down the pipe later. The +5 XP is really just evening thimgs up a bit since this chain does not typically contribute to the Personal Lieutenant feat (except for those lucky captains).

Edit: In the end I reasigned the feats to the terrain tree to avoid the issue and balance out the strong class choices to go along with this theme to include Scouts as much as Captains and Lancers (amusingly, courtiers also rock as Storm Riders... "You have a good point, but a friend of mine wishes to raise an objection... *RAAAARRRRR!*")

Sidebar: The OrochiOrochi are spectacular sea serpents freed from the spirit realms by secret Mantis magic. While they are sometimes turned loose without supervision, they are far more effective when paired with a brave human rider who can both sooth and direct their fury for the benefit of the clan.

When an Orochi is taken as a Personal Lieutenant, the player character must be eligible to select a lieutenant worth at least 65 XP. Further, the Orochi may only be improved as outlined in the Advancement section until the player may choose/create a lieutenant worth up to 100 XP. Beyond that, the player may improve the statistics of his Orochi as he sees fit (with GM approval, of course).

Next week should be a theme week, but this was another random draw from the pile .

GEAR FEATS

Gempuku CeremonyThe day you first swore fealty to you lord was a celebration that will be long remembered!Prerequisites: Level 1 Only, Alignment (any)Benefit: You receive a weapon from your lord or family (either a katana or a weapon of the same type as your alignment’s ritual weapon) with up to 2 essences of your choice and a maximum total Reputation value of 15. This weapon is a Prize.Choose a base class. As long as you have more levels in that base class than any other base class, the Disposition of any character sharing your alignment increases by 2 and you may keep 1 additional weapon as Prize without it counting against the number of Prizes you may keep.

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

I didn't realize it was such a long time ago! Anyway, as I recently read the fourth edition of L5R, I was drawn to this excellent setting again. And if I started working on it again, I wanted to finish the conversion guide during these holidays. And since I have a non-English-speaking friend who was very interested in it as well ...

Well, to sum up, I've finished a 31-page guide in French. It re-uses many of the ideas we've written down here, simplifies a few, and sadly eliminates quite many options that were just taking too much space (including the very nice but countless family Talents). I'm considering using it as a starting point, a "minimal package" to play the game. Then, it can be enhanced with an "expanded guide" which will contain more options and details. I'll try to re-translate it into English asap, so that you guys can use it - and improve it - too.

A Lion’s Roar The Lion believe that honor succeeds where the dishonorable stumble.Prerequisites: Honor 3+Benefit: When you hit a character with equal or lower Honor you may shout out your battlecry. If you do roll 1d6 twice, keeping the lower result. You suffer that much subdual damage that cannot be reduced or resisted and gain a bonus to your damage roll equal to that much + your Honor.Battlefield: You gain a trick.Roaring Lion (Reliable Battlefield Trick): You carry out a strike with a Force equal to your Honor. Add +2 Force if you have the Tactician feat. You become spent.

DEATH-MONGERSeed Class The Death-Monger is a grim warrior gone too far down dark paths. A paragon of personal ferocity and unpredictable violence, the Death-Monger is bound to amass a stunning kill count... among foes and friends alike. Those he slays come to serve him even after death, a rotting, shambling army of dammed souls.

Party Role: Combatant/Campaigner. You are a brute with an undead edge. Fearsome in personal combat, you also amass a horde of the unliving to serve you in larger battles.

Core AbilityBlack Beast: Your Constitution rises by 2 and you may add your Constitution modifier in place of your Strength modifier when making melee and unarmed damage rolls. However, you may not keep any form of armor as a prize.

Class AbilitiesDeath Rage: At Level 1, after each successful hit with a single-target melee or unarmed attack you make you must repeat that attack on a second, different character if possible using the same attack check, tricks if any, and damage roll results. These repeat attacks gain +1 reach and do not trigger additional repeat attacks. If there are no enemies or bystanders within reach choose a target from amongst your allies within reach. If you spent Edge or action dice on the initial attack, those effects also apply to the repeated attack. Also, your Force increases by +4 but any time you lose a battle or win a battle where you army had less than double the other army’s Force at the end of the battle, all troops in your command are slaughtered.The Black Touch: At Level 2, you gain the undead type and cannot have non-undead units in your command. You begin each scene with your maximum Wounds and each time you kill an enemy or bystander you recover wounds equal to your Constitution modifier. You also gain a unit of plague zombies for your command without reputation cost. This unit immediately reforms or is replaced after each battle at no cost.(You are immune to diseases, poisons, and sneak attack damage unless the source specifically affects Undead. You do not recover Wounds over time without being healed/repaired. Damage from 'shadow' effects heals you and healing from 'light' effects damages you. While you may eat, you gain no benefits from food or drink. You do not age, sleep, or breathe.)Bone March: At Level 3, each time you kill a folk character you gain a standard skeleton I as a companion to maximum number of companions equal to your class level (see page 116). The skeleton has no equipment save that which you provide. The skeleton acts entirely according to your wishes while in your line of sight and will take no other actions except to return to your presence when not so controlled. If it cannot do so within a number of minutes equal to your class level it crumbles to dust. You also may add any number of skeleton troops to your command without Reputation cost (up to the maximum number of units your command may include). These units immediately reform or are replaced after each battle at no cost.Unmasking the Fear: At Level 4, you may turn non-undead up to twice per scene. Afterwards you may continue to turn non-undead by spending 2 action dice each time you do so. You also gain a trick.Berserker’s Charge (persistent fear battlefield trick): Reduce the Force of an enemy leader by your force (minimum 0).The Dark Road Back: At Level 5, your Force increases by +1 and the companions created with your Bone March ability are now skeleton II’s . Once per adventure if your teammates have your body at the end of a scene in which you died you cheat death without penalty.